Every time I hear of descriptions of Singapore government like 'kiasu', 'ungrateful', 'adik', etc, as has happened over the bridge incident, I cringe. These descriptions are, of course, a result of politicians who need to spin things for their own selfish purposes but what I find abominable are journalists (even international ones) who quote them without questioning.

Having dealt with the Singapore government at the highest level for significant years, it would be a disservice to most Malaysians, especially those who have strong personal ties in Singapore, not to describe them more accurately.

While it is true that most Singaporeans, in general civil servants and workers, behave with a somewhat lack of courage, to extend the same description to Singapore's leadership it to highly underestimate it.

From personal knowledge, I can safely say that those at the very top do not lack courage or patriotism. The PAP takes incredible effort to recruit talented individuals for the government. While their system is far from perfect, at the very top, they do succeed in recruiting some very skilled people whose courage and patriotism cannot be questioned. I count Foreign Minister BG Yeo, the lead negotiator on the bridge, as one of these people.

The more accurate description of Singapore's top government leaders is that they are street- fighters. When Singapore's top leaders believe they are in the right and they don't trust the other side, they can be very ungenerous and even ruthless - take no prisoner, don't give up anything without a fight approach. It is highly unenlightened leadership and undeserving of a nation that is now considered developed but that is what they are.

Grow up Malaysians, Singapore is not 'kiasu' or an ungrateful 'adik'. She is a divorced spouse that has gone on to do much better but frankly, won't hesitate to hit back whenever she feels she can get away with it. The truth is, their behaviour, while not admirable, is actually not as bad as it could be. If Singapore's leaders were as mean as some of our misguided ultras would like us to believe, they could systematically isolate Malaysia to its own self-destruction.

It is time we stop letting our politician and ultras fool us into allowing them to get away with mistakes, misguided ideas and mediocrity. It begins by not letting them spin untruths that allow them to do so.